Media literacy
is an informed, critical understanding of the mass media.
It involves examining the techniques, technologies and
institutions involved in media production; being able to
critically analyze media messages; and recognizing the role
audiences play in making meaning from those messages.

"Media education does not aim to shield young
people from the influence of the media, and thereby
lead them to better things, but to enable them to make
informed decisions on their own behalf."
David
Buckingham

The need to study the media
in a critical and coherent way has become increasingly
obvious in recent years, as they have come to occupy a
central position in our cultural and political
life. Virtually all that we know, or think that
we know, about the world beyond our immediate
experience comes to us through the media.
The fact that the media have remained outside the
school curriculum at the same time as they have come to
dominate so many aspects of our society, and indeed,
our individual consciousness, is a tribute to their
power to influence us on levels of which we are
unaware. It is not surprising then, that we have
come to study the media; it is only surprising that it
has taken us so long to start.

Media literacy is concerned with the process of
understanding and using the mass media. It is
also concerned with helping students develop an
informed and critical understanding of the nature of
the mass media, the techniques used by them, and the
impact of these techniques. More specifically, it
is education that aims to increase students’
understanding and enjoyment of how the media work, how
they produce meaning, how they are organized and how
they construct reality.

Ultimately, media literacy education must aim to
produce students who have an understanding of the media
that includes a knowledge of their strengths and
weaknesses, biases and priorities, role and impact, and
artistry and artifice. Media literacy is a life
skill.
Ontario
Media Literacy Resource Guide